Imagery Data Reveals Initial Venezuelan Oil Ship Confiscated by US is Currently Near the Texas Coast.
American agents boarding the vessel of the Skipper on December 10th.
Satellite imagery and ship tracking data has verified that the crude carrier Skipper – the first vessel apprehended by the United States for reportedly transporting embargoed oil from Venezuela – is now positioned near of the state of Texas.
A satellite firm's orbital photographs dated 21 December shows the tanker is in the vicinity of the port of Galveston, while Automatic Identification System vessel-tracking data from a maritime data service currently places the Skipper about 50 miles offshore.
The Skipper was taken into custody by American officials on the tenth of December and has been sanctioned by multiple nations. When it was seized, it was incorrectly sailing under the flag of the nation of Guyana.
This seizure was followed by the capture of a another tanker, the Centuries. This ship – unlike the Skipper – was not under official restrictions when it was taken into US custody.
US authorities are currently pursuing a third such vessel, which has been named by the maritime risk group Vanguard as the Bella 1 tanker. The US President stated yesterday that “we’ll end up getting it”.
Writing on X, the TankerTrackers group said the Bella 1 has been “underway for over a month” and, at an average speed of 11 knots, may have “approximately a month of diesel remaining unless her speed decreases”.
The group added the tanker is “likely heading south-east towards South Africa”.
